Casket construction.



J. KERSTEN,

CASKET CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION 11.50 JULY 17,1916.

Patented July 24,1917.

Key $739 r maniac.

p'niritn PATENT @klETQE.

JACOB KERS'IEN, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

CASKET CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented July aa, 191 7..

Application filed Iuly 1'7, 1916. Serial No. 109,787.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAooB KERsTEN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Casket Construction; and I do hereby de Glare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a burial casket. It is the object and purpose of my invention, primarily, to provide a new and improved casket construction which may be manufactured at a very low cost and which will be light and strong in construction and: at the same time capable of being covered with any suitable covering or finished and grained to represent any desired kind of wood. The great majority of casket bodies now made are of wood. which has to be cut and fashioned into suitable form for the various moldings of the different designs of caskets whereby the cost of manufacture is high, this cost of manufacture also increasing by reason of the continuous rise in price of the materials from which the body is made. My invention contemplates the provision of a casket made from paper, asbestos board and a cementitious composition with only sufficient wood to provide proper backing for attachment of the hinges between the casket body and top and for the catch which holds the top in closed position. To these ends as well as many others not specifically set forth I have embodied my invention in a construction illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a perspective View of a casket which may be made in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken transversely of the casket body and,

Fig. 3 is a similar section taken transversely of the top or cover.

Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

The casket body on its sides, bottom, and ends is covered with paper indicated at 1, this paper, preferably, being what is known as red rosin paper. In the construction of the casket a mold of the proper size is made and the paper covering is fitted on the inside thereof. Lengthwise of the base above the paper 1 a board 2 preferably formed chiefly from asbestos or what is known commercially as asbestos board is laid and is cemented to the paper by use of any pre ferred type of cement. I prefer to use silica cement or water glass. Similarly along the sides an asbestos board 3 is placed and cemented to the paper as shown in Fig. Zlying between the lower and upper mold ings. The ends may also be provided with asbestos board in the same way. The space between the lower edges of boards 3 and side edges of boards 2 at the sides and ends is then filled with a plastic composition which may be made to conform to any de sired molding. This composition is of asbestos fiber, glue, plaster of Paris and silica cement so that it is comparatively light in weight and adheres tenaciously to the paper 1 and the boards 2 and 3 and sets soon after putting in place. In like manner the upper molding is made of a similar composition as shown at 5, the composition at the upper part of the casket body, preferably, coming down along the inner side of the asbestos boards 3 so that the inner side of the casket is rounded as shown or shaped to any other desired form. ing to the upper outlines of the casket is laid above the composition 5 and the paper covering 1 turned around it to completely cover the same while the interior of the casket body is finished by a similar paper covering 7 cemented to the various compositions fh and 5 and the boards 2 and 3.

The casket top is made in a very similar manner the mold therefor receiving first the outer paper covering 8 to which an asbestos board 9 lying lengthwise of the top is cemented. The moldings for the casket are made from a composition similar in all respects to the composition at 4- and 5 and which in the casket top is indicated at 10 forming the sides and ends of the top except for a wood frame 11 which is placed upon the part 10 in the same way that the wood frame 6 is placed upon the parts 5 in the casket body. The outer paper 8 also turns around the frame 11 and is cemented thereto while the interior of the casket top is finished by a paper covering 12.

The moldings 13 and 14 of the casket body may be of any design as the plastic composition readily enters the mold. Furthermore the wood frame 6 and 11 when placed in contact with the plastic composition before A frame 6 of wood conforma it is set are attached firmly thereto by reason of the glue and silica cement in the composition after it has set and dried. The asbestos boards at 1 permit the attachment of handles 16 and furnish a solid support therefor while the inner lining to the casket body indicated at 17 may be secured in place by nailing to the frame 6 and in a similar manner the lining to the interior of the top may be secured to the frame 11. It will also,

be noted that this construction permits the attachment of anyouter covering desired so that the casket when finished shall present the same appearance as does any other. 6 Furthermore by reason of the material entering into this construction the casket may be cut in any desired manner the same as though it were made of wood and in fact the casket when finished may be used in every way the same as though made of wood and at the same time may be made very much more cheaply and be free from the many defects many times present in wood caskets. The wooden frames 6 and 11 permit the attachment of hinges so that the top may be hingedly attached to the body and also the catch for holding the top in closed position. Furthermore the outer paper 1 may be grained and finished to present the appearance of any kind of wood if, a fabric covering construction is strong, durable, is capable of all of the uses to which any casket may be put and at the same time as found by actual practice costs for material and manufacture less than one quarter of what the cost would be for the same casket ifmade out of the regular casket materials now most commonly used.

I claim 1. In a coffin or casket a body having'an outer covering of paper, boards lying along the sides, ends and bottom cemented to said for the casket is not desired. "The paper, with spaces between the bottom edges of the side and end boards and the bottom board, a plastic composition filling said spaces, a similar composition above the upper edges of said side and end boards, an open frame lying above the upper composition, and a paper. covering lining the interior of the body, said frame being retained by the outer covering of paper and by the cementing ofsaid frame to-the plastic composition substantially as described.

2. In a cofin or casket a body having an outer covering of paper, asbestos boards lyingoalong the inner sides of said paper at the sides, ends and bottom of the casket and cemented to the paper, said bottom board being spaced a distance from the side and .end boards, a plastic composition filling the spaces between the bottom and side and end boards, a similar composition above the side and end boards, an open frame of wood lying against the upper plastic composition,

and a paper linlng for inside of the body.

3. In a coffin or casket, a body having an outer covering and an inner lining of paper, said paper forming a continuous inclosure, boards lying along the sides, ends and bottom cemented to the outer covering of paper, the inner covering of paper also being cemented to the bottomboard, there being spaces left between the bottom edges of the side and end boards and the bottom board, a plastic composition filling said spaces, a similar composition above the upper edges of said side and end boards, an open frame lying above and in contact with the upper composition, said boards, composition and frame all lying within the in-' closure formed of paper, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature.

JACOB KER-STEN.

by the covering and lining Copies of this patent may be obtained for-five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

